Two-way mailer envelope



Oct. 14, 1969 ALlFF, JR ET AL 3,472,444

TWO-WAY MAIL ER ENVELOPE Filed April'l5, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 RLFUS G. ALIFF, JR CARL DOUGLAS rmoon THOMAS ONION MILLER ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 R, ALlFF, JR ET AL TWO-WAY MAILER ENVELOPE I Filed April 15, 1968 R C w m m TF N N so ELA VA M N G ew 08 S WL umm RCT ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 R. AUFF, JR ET AL 3,472,444

TWO-WAY MAILER ENVELOPE Filed April 15, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet G INVENTOQ 5 (u-33 ALFF, JR. THOMAS DALTON MILLER ATTORNEY United States Patent TWO-WAY MAILER ENVELOPE Rufus G. Alifi, .Ir., and Carl Douglas Herndon, Valley Station, and Thomas Dalton Miller, Louisville, Ky., assignors to Double Envelope Corporation, Roanoke, Va., a corporation of Virginia Filed Apr. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 721,447

Int. Cl. B65d 27/06 US. Cl. 229-70 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Envelopes are known of the general type of the present invention having a flap closure of sufficient length to entirely cover the back of the envelope and form a first address flap whereby the company sending the envelope to a prospective customer can provide the name, address and postage on this flap without interfering with the operation of the envelope after the first address flap has been removed by tearing along a line of Weakness to reveal a return address and provision for postage and to leave a short adhesive-coated closure flap to be used when the customer uses the envelope to forward merchandise to the company indicated by the return address, the companys name and address being printed on the back of the envelope and covered during its initial mailing to the cus tomer by the first address flap.

One such envelope, in order to provide space for more advertising matter, illustrations and instructions, provides that one of the longitudinal side flaps extends entirely across the envelope to form the back panel, and the other longitudinal side flap is secured adjacent its fold line to the.one said side flap to fix the back panel in place, and this other side flap carries an extension that is not secured to the back panel in order to provide an area for printed matter.

In this case of the rather limited additional area provid'ed to receive printed matter, the known envelopes have becbme dog eared and unsightly as the rather long flap carrying the advertising matter becomes crumpled and bent in handling the envelopes either in bulk, or individually. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an envelope with an even greater area on which ind icia and printed matter may be placed and, at the same time, reduce the incidence of loss of envelopes by their bec oming dog eared, mussed, or torn.

,Other and further objects and advantages will appear from the following specification taken with the accompapying drawings in which similar reference characters apply to similar parts in the several views and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of an envelope as it is sent out by a film processing company, for instance, to "solicit business;

FIGURE 2 is a section on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 shows the envelope partially opened, the first address area severed from the return sealing flap;

FIGURE 4 is a section on line 44 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 after the order record flap has been removed showing the advertising instruction flap partly unfolded;

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FIGURE 6 is a section on line 6--6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 shows the envelope ready to be stuifed for return to the original addressor;

FIGURE 8 shows the sealed envelope of FIGURE 7 ready for mailing;

FIGURE 9 is a section on line 9-9 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is a view of the blank from which the envelope is formed.

As seen in FIGURE 1, the envelope as mailed by the first addressor is neat and has no tabs or appendages to become dog eared and unsightly.

For the sake of clarity of the discussion, reference is made to FIGURE 10 where the blank is shown folded out flat. The portion to be designated as the top of the blank and of the envelope, when completed, is shown at the right in this figure, and the portion to be designated as the bottom is shown at the left, so that in speaking of the solid central portion of the blank, designated hereafter as the back panel, the sides of this back panel and of the envelope are shown as connecting the top portion at the right and the bottom portion at the left.

From FIGURES 2 and 3, it is seen, keeping the blank of FIGURE 10 in mind, that the envelope has a solid back panel 1, a front panel 2 of almost equal size that is folded over the back panel. A side panel 3 is formed of a side-sealing tab portion 3a that is sealed to the edge of the front panel 2 to form the envelope sleeve. The bottom of the envelope is fastened shut by bottom flap or tab 4 which is formed of two parts 4a, that is adhered to the front panel 2 and part 4b that overlies the lower end portion 31) of the side panel 3 and holds the portion 3b securely in place.

Portion 3b is a booklet or folder that is folded in upon itself as is seen in FIGURES 2, 5 and 6. This folded booklet 3b provides additional space for instructions and advertising. While 3b is shown as being merely a folder of one fold, it could be made with a double fold to provide an even greater area for printed matter.

As noted above, the folder 3b overlies the front panel 2 and the tab 4b overlies the folder 3b and holds it securely in place whether the closure flap 5 is in place or not. The envelope, then, is very rugged in spite of the far greater area provided for advertising or the like.

The closure flap 5 is made of two parts 5a and 5b. Part 511 may be provided with a spot of adhesive as seen at 6 in FIGURE 3, to be secured to part 4a to secure the envelope in a mailing condition to be sent out by an original addressor. Two spots, one at each corner of part 5b, could be used in lieu of the single spot.

Alternatively, the part 5b may be made shorter so that the free end can be tucked under the part 4b. This alternative form is not the preferred embodiment, except where it is not desired to seal the envelope shut in the first instance.

As seen in FIGURE 1 where the printed blank has been assembled to be mailed by the first addressor, the part 5b is secured by spot 6 of adhesive to the bottom closure tab 4a. In this condition the envelopes are fed through an addressing machine to be imprinted with an address as indicated. Upon receipt by the addressee the seal at 6 is broken and this part Sb may be severed from the envelope along dotted line 7. The folder 3b, however, is still securely held by the tab 4b that overlies it, yet the folder may be unfolded, read and, if desired, returned to its position as seen in FIGURE 3. The side of part 5b facing the folder 3b in the several views is conveniently used for a return message such as the number of prints of photographic negatives that are desired.

When the first addressee wishes to use the envelope to forward material to the original addressor, the folder 3b is severed from the envelope at a line of Weakness 8, and the folder may be retained as a record of the services offered, the prices, guarantees, or the like. Tab 4b is severed along line 9. Part 4b is shown as being provided with spaces to be filled out to indicate What material was enclosed for mailing to the original addressor, and what disposition was requested to be made of the enclosed material. This tab 4b is retained by the second addressor. Using the reverse of part 5b as the order blank is highly desirable as it cannot be confused with other order blanks as it is imprinted with the name and address of the original addressee who is now ordering prints.

It is seen, therefore, that a novel two-way mailer envelope has been devised that provides a greatly expanded area for printed matter that is neat in appearance, rugged in use and can be made on an ordinary envelope machine.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. An' envelope for two-way mailing comprising a generally rectangular back panel having side, top and bottom edges, a wide front panel secured by a fold line to one edge of said back panel extended substantially across said back panel and a second panel secured by a fold line to the other edge of said back panel, said second panel being of a width in excess of the width of said back panel, a narrow portion of said second panel adjacent said fold line being secured to the edge of said front panel the portion of said second panel remote from its fold line being folded inwardly to form a booklet to lie across the face of said front panel, a bottom-sealing tab secured by a fold line to said back panel and adhered to a narrow botom portion of said front panel below the bottom edge of said booklet, said bottom-sealing tab being provided with an extension overlying said booklet to hold said booklet in place, and an adhesive carrying closure tab secured by a fold line to the top edge of said back panel. a

2. The envelope of claim 1 in which a line of weakness is provided on the bottom-sealing tab adjacent said narrow bottom portion whereby the extension of said bottom sealing tab may be severed to free said booklet from restraint.

3. The envelope of claim 1 in which a line of weakness is provided parallel to the adhesive, securing said second panel to said front panel between said adhesive and said booklet, whereby said booklet may be severed from said envelope.

4. The envelope of claim 1 in which said closure tab is of a length to extend from said fold line at the top edge of said back panel to sever said booklet, and said closure tab is provided with sealing adhesive adjacent the fold line at said top edge, and a line of Weakness is provided adjacent said sealing adhesive whereby the part of said closure tab remote from said fold line at said top edge may be severed therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,877,944 3/1959 Hyman 229-73 3,159,329 12/1964 Hiersteiner 22-9-68 DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 229-43 

